Acquirers have worked for years looking for sources to send them leads for merchant processing. In fact, a referral from a business that already has a relationship with a merchant is often one of the “hottest” leads an acquirer can get. While almost every acquirer looks for new ways to penetrate such powerful partnerships, many favor referral partners as their sole means of driving new business. Any organization or individual with a list of business customers or prospects is a potential referral partner. Places to look include:

• Agent Banks
• Trade and Retailer
• Business Associations
• Internet Service Providers
• Point-of-Sale Dealer & Developers
• Business Supply and Purchasing Entities
• Business Software Manufacturers and Wholesalers
• Insurance, Accounting, Payroll and Other Business Service Providers

    Driving the push to increase referral partnerships is the need to decrease sales costs, as most of the merchants referred by these partners can be closed over the phone. Finding good street salespeople and keeping them compliant and focused is becoming more difficult. Generally, referral programs can eliminate costly face-to-face customer visits. Leveraging an expensive field sales representative by changing him into a referral partner sales representative can drive much greater volume.
    What works for a Merchant Level Sales or Direct Sales distribution channel does not necessarily work for a referral-focused business unit. The referral sales machine can be broken down into four areas and needs to be managed by a highly effective reporting and tracking system that ties together the referral partner, the acquirer and the four areas of expertise.

Referral Sales and Development Team.

    This group is responsible for finding and integrating a new referral partner into the acquirer’s way of doing business. After a referral partner is found and signs a contract that generally involves sharing revenue, the work of the sales team is not yet complete. There is often the need to certify a product or integrate one business into the other. The role of this development team is to make doing business simple. Merchant processing is not the core business of the referral partner, so it should be the acquirer’s goal to make sending leads and activating merchants as painless as possible.

Referral Partner Support Team.

    Just as a merchant-level salesperson needs an account manager and technical support contact, so does the referral partner. This team is tasked with dealing with the day-to-day issues of the referral partner. It is often helpful if the support team is versed in the referral partners business and can quickly react to billing, technical and operational issues. This role is crucial. If the referral partner does not get the necessary support, there is a good chance they will not continue to send the acquirer business.

Merchant Sales and Marketing.

    These referral partners have merchants and it is the goal of the referral partnership to exploit this merchant base. An acquirer must work hand-in- hand with the partner to develop a full marketing program with the buy-in of the partner. This may include co-op advertising and promotions or other types of joint campaigns. Just as important is the sales team - generally a tele-sales group that will handle all calls from these merchants. These salespeople must be professional, thorough and have great follow-up skills so these “hot” leads are not be wasted.

Merchant Support.

    As with any merchant, these referred merchants need a help desk to call with questions regarding their accounts. The needs of the partnership will determine the expertise and responsiveness necessary in this group, but a bad support team can lose a referral partnership quickly. Referral partners want merchant services to be hassle-free and not jeopardize their core business. Poor support could put the entire referral relationship at risk.

    Referral marketing is becoming more and more competitive as acquirers are looking for ways to tap into these tremendous lead sources. If your organization is looking for new ways to generate business, finding some great referral partners may be an enormous avenue of opportunity. As you build out this channel, make sure to cover the four basic areas and remember that the referral partner is your customer too. Do not forget to put their needs at the front of the list. These partnerships can bring a new and highly profitable distribution channel to your organization if managed properly.